Track-gage



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ORLANDO S. KEPLER, OF PATTERSON, PENNSYLVANIA.

TRACK-GAG E.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of Letters Patent No. 587,739, dated August 10, 1897. Application iled March 27, 1896. Serial No. 585,100. (No model.)

as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

It is the object of my invention to provide an improved instrument adapted for various functions in connection with the laying, inspection, or adjustment of railroad-tracks, frogs, switches, and car-wheels. The building or inspection of tracks and wheels involves the making of both inside and outside measurements-for instance, the inside measurement between rails and car-wheels, the outside measurement from the iange of a stiff frog to the guard-rail, or the measurement from the inside of the frog-point of a springfrog to the outside of the guard-rail-and by my improved gage either inside or outside distances may be readily and accurately measured or laid off. It is also necessaryr that the rails of straight tracks shall be level with each other and that the outside rail of curved tracks shall be elevated above the inside rail in proportion to the sharpness of the curve. The instrument comprising my inventionris adapted for these functions also and may be used for leveling or testing the level of the rails or for determining the elevation of one rail above the other. It serves thus as a track, frog, switch, guard-rail, and wheel gage and a track and curve elevation-level.

A further feature of my invention is a construction of gage and level of such strength that it may hold the rail while the latter is being spiked down.

Such being the objects and general nature of the invention it consists in the parts and combinations thereof hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In order to make the invention more clearly understood, I have shown in the accompanying drawings means for carrying it into practical effect without limiting my improvements in their useful applications to the particular construction which for the sake of illustration I have delineated.

In said drawings, Figure l is a perspective View of a gage and level embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the same on line II, Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view on line III, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a similar View on line IV, Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section looking upward on line V, Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, 1 is the shank or connecting-bar of theins'trument, formed, preferably, of one inch metallic pipe. Screwed, riveted, or otherwise connected with one end of said shank is a yoke 2, adapted to rest upon the railand having downward projections 3. The latter are vertical on their inner as well as on their outer sides and are thus adapted for engaging the outer side of an object, such as a frog, as shown at 4 in full lines in Fig. 2,130 take an, outside measurement. The manner of engaging a rail to take an inside measurement is shown in dotted lines at 5 in the same figure. At the other end of the shank is attached a hollow or chambered guide 6, preferably a metal casting, open at one side and having a recess at its top for a spirit-level 7. The rear side of said guide is form ed with a slot or groove S.

9 is a slide graduated, as shown, in inches and fractions thereof and adapted to fit neatly within the guide 6. It is limited in its outward movement by a lug or pin 10, Xed in the slide and engaging the groove 8. The slide Qlis confined laterally in the guide by a movable plate 11, adapted to slide longitudinally within undercut flanges 12, formed on the guide. p i

After the graduated slide has been placed within the guide and the plate l1 slid into place the latter is confined by a screw 13. After being adjusted longitudinally the slide may be clamped in place by a set-screw 14. The slide may have a hole or holes a formed at the places where the screw is to engage the slide when the instrument is adjusted for certain stan dard'measurements, which facilitate the adjustment of the device. The outer end of the slide 9 consitutes an extension beyond the body or main portion of the gage and carries avertical lip or flange 15, adapted to abut the inner surface of a rail or otherwise indicate the position of the rail which is being located or tested.

IOO

16 is a horizontal liange arranged in the same horizontal plane with the under side of the yoke 2 and attached to or cast with the slide 9. This flange serves to engage by its under surface the top of the rail.

As thus far described the instrument is complete for gaging and leveling purposes.

I will now describe the means, comprising an attachment for the gage, whereby the elevation of one rail or object above another may be determined.

17 is a sliding bar, which I term an elevation-bar, graduated and fitting in aguide 18 in the flange 16. In order to steady the elevation-bar without increasing the thickness of the flange 16, I provide the slide 9 with a second flange 19 above the flange 16 and formed with a guide-opening 2O for the elevation-bar. kThe latter is formed on an arc from the center 21, in order that the adjustment of the elevation-bar may not impair the accuracy of the gage. The bar 17 is held in its adjusted position by a set-screw 22, which is preferably mounted in a vertical bar or web 23, which unites and strengthens the guideflanges 16 and 19. At its lower end the elevationbar carries vertical and horizontal gage-flanges 24 and 25, which take the place of and have the heretofore-described functions of the flanges 15 and' 16 when the elevation bar has been -adjusted downward. When the latter is in its zero position, it is essential that the-outer face of the flange 24 shall be flush with that of Ithe flange 15 and that the under side 0f the flange` 25 shall be flush with the bottom of the flange 16. To this end the iiXed anges 15 and 16 are provided, respectively, with recesses 26 and 27,

Y' into which the movable flanges may enter when the elevation-'baris in its zero position. 'While the parts 15 and 24. are illustrated as curved, for practical purposes they need not .be so, as the recess 26 may be shaped to give Where the rails constitute electric circuits,

the shank connecting the two ends of the instrument should be of wood or other non-conductor.

NV hat is claimed is- 1. In a track-gage the combination of ayoke i 2. Atrack-gage having at one end means for engaging a rail, a longitudinal guidingrecess and undercut flanges at the edges Vof the same, a sliding graduated bar fitting said recess and carrying means for engaging the top and side of a rail, and a plate covering the recess and sliding within said flanges.

3. A track-gage -havinga longitudinal recess open at one side and a groove within the' recess, a slide fitting the recess and having a projection entering the groove, a removable plate covering the recess, and an elevationbar carried by the slide.

4. A track-gage having a longitudinal slide, vertical and horizontal llanges carried by the latter, a second horizontal flange, an elevation-bar guided in said horizontal flanges, and horizontal and vertical flanges or projections carried by said bar.

5. A track-gage having a longitudinal slide, vertical and horizontal recessed flanges carried by the latter, an elevation-bar guided in said horizontal flange, and vertical and horizontal flanges or projections carried by the elevation-bar and fitting flush within said recesses.

In testimony whereof I aixmy signature in the presence of two witnesses. p ORLANDO S. KEPLER. W'itnesses:

G. B. M. KEPLER, H. N. Low. 

